Developing a Safety Culture

By: Jason Humphries

Developing a Safety Culture

• What is a safety culture?

• Differences between safety culture and safety climate

• Elements of a safety culture

• How to create a safety culture

• Management responsibilities

• Behavioral safety

What is Safety Culture?• Safety Culture is the enduring value and priority

placed on workers and public safety by everyone in every group at every level of an organization.

• It refers to the extent to which individuals and groups will commit to:– personal responsibility for safety

– act to preserve safety

– enhance and communicate safety concerns

– strive to actively learn

– adapt and modify behavior based on lessons learned from mistakes

– be rewarded in a manner consistent with these values.

What About Safety Climate?

• Safety Climate is the temporal measure of

safety culture

• Subject to commonalities among individual

perceptions of the organization

• It is therefore situational based

Key Differences

Culture vs. Climate

• Safety Culture is commonly viewed as an enduring characteristic

• Safety Climate is viewed as a temporary state that is subject to change depending on current circumstance

• Safety Culture is the attitudes, values, norms, and beliefs that a particular group of people share with respect to risk and safety

• Safety Climate can be defined as a “snapshot” of employees’ perceptions of the current environment or prevailing conditions which impact upon safety

Key Differences

Culture vs. Climate

• Safety Culture is a group of individuals guided

in their behavior by their joint belief in the

importance of safety.

• Safety Climate varies individually depending on

current perceptions and can change daily.

Perception of safety procedures and rules are a

reflection of safety climate.

• Safety Cultures build joint responsibility

between individuals from management to

employee.

Elements of a Safety Culture

• Organizational Commitment to Safety

• Operational Personnel

• Formal Safety System

• Informal Safety System

Organizational Commitment to Safety

• Refers to the degree to which an organizations upper management prioritizes safety in decision-making and allocates adequate resources to safety

• An organizations commitment to safety can be reflected by three major components:

– Safety Values

– Safety Fundamentals

– Going Beyond Compliance

Operational Personnel

• Refers to the degree to which those directly involved in the supervision of employees’ safety behavior are actually committed to safety and reinforce the safety values espoused by upper management.

• These personnel include:

– supervisors/foremen

– Maintenance supervision

– Safety Trainers

Formal Safety System

• Refers to the processes for reporting and

addressing both occupational and process

safety hazards.

• These systems include

– Reporting systems

– Feedback and response

– Safety personnel

Informal Safety Systems

• Refers to the unwritten rules pertaining to

safety behavior including rewards and

punishments for safe and unsafe actions

• These systems include:

– Accountability

– Authority

– Employee professionalism

Creating a Safety Culture

• Stop relying solely on the line-

management

• Involve all employees

• Stop accepting the “Blind Eye” syndrome

Leadership is Essential

• How does safety become a value?

– Consistent demonstrable leadership

• Senior managers should instill “safety is a

value” to all employees and design a

safety vision

– This vision should spell out the entities

objectives, standards, and what actions they

will be taking to reach it

Selling the Vision

• Upper management need to develop and

personally commit to the vision

– This can be accomplished by:

• leading by example

• Highlighting an unsafe condition or practice and

correcting it on the spot (without casting blame)

• Don’t allow the “I’m too busy” phrase to impede the

process. Set aside ½ an hour to 1 hour a day to

visit operational areas

Assigning Responsibility and

Accountability for Safety

• Upper management need to take personal

responsibility for bringing the vision to

fruition!

• Responsibility and accountability needs to

be cascaded throughout the entire

organizational

employee structure

Focusing on Success and Not Failure

• Measure proactive successes

– Number of weekly safety inspections

– Number of personnel safety trained

– Number of personnel receiving safety

refreshers

– Number of SOPs reviewed

– Number of remedial actions completed

– Number of near misses reported

– Number of safety suggestions received

Align Policies and Practices With the

Stated Vision

• Policies and practices MUST be aligned

with entity’s safety objectives

• All departments must be involved

– e.g. Purchasing must know exactly what

safety equipment each department needs

– Human resources must practice more sound

hiring and placement standards

– All departments need to be involved with the

procurement of safety precautions and

suggestions

Safety Management is Key for

Maintaining a Safety Culture

• Different from safety leadership, safety management deals with the practical implementation of the espoused vision

• The vision should be continuously sold to managers and supervisors

• Middle managers should engage employees in safety conversations– Ask what can be done to prevent an injury while

performing a certain job. If something is identified be prepared to deal with it as quickly as possible and monitor the status of the remedial action until completion.

Proactive Focus on Safety at the

Operational Level

• One of the primary causes of accidents is

poor management control

• Front line managers play a HUGE role in

embedding safety visions within the file

and rank employees

• Front line managers MUST NEVER turn a

blind eye to unsafe practices or condition

– This will be seen as visionary lip service!

Management Responsibilities

• Front line managers should be vigorously

encouraged to:

– Correct any and all unsafe acts when seen

– Identify unsafe conditions

– Discuss safety with the work group each and every

day

– Close any outstanding remedial actions

– Conduct safety training and risk assessments

– Provide feedback on safety issues to the workgroup

– Praise and or acknowledge people who are doing

things safely

Instilling Employee Ownership

• How people are approached about safety will generally determine their subsequent behavior and values

• ALL levels of management must actively show they care about the well being and safety of every employee

Behavioral Safety

• Behave – to act, react, or function in some

specified way

• Safety – being safe, freedom from risk or

danger

• Behavioral safety – the way in which an

individual responds to a decision involving

risk or safety

Socio-Technical Systems

• Looking at work cultures in this sense

means recognizing that the work culture

influences the way operations are

performed.

• Without a supportive culture even the best

designed safety programs will FAIL!

Elements of a Social System

• Social systems include:

– Trust

– Collaboration

– Communication

– Working in teams

Elements of a Technical System

• Technical systems include:

– Operational procedures

– Equipment calibrations

– Policies

Socio-Technical Systems

• Our ability to overlap these two is the point

where our productivity, quality, and safety

will be maximized.

• High accident frequency rates “normally”

correlate with low employee perceptions of

the safety culture in perception surveys.

Socio-Technical Leaders

• Qualities of a transformational leader:

Ability to create, communicate, and

implement a new vision

• We must instill in others the capability to

create common values around safety

goals

Challenges of Tomorrow

• Focus on safety behavior, not safety

attitudes

• Entails adopting a collaborative problem

solving approach to identifying critical sets

of safe and unsafe behaviors

• Management and employees MUST

participate together

Resources

• The Values Based Safety Process. Terry McSween

• Practical Guidance for Introducing the Ethos that “Safety is a Value”. July 2000 Dr. Dominic Cooper

• Grassroots Safety Culture. Steven I. Simon, Ph.D.

• Behavioral Safety. Training Solutions, summer 1999 Edition

• Goal Setting for Safety. The Safety and Health Practitioner, November 1993

• Implementing Culture Change. Steven I. Simon Ph.D.

• On the Future of the Safety Profession. Steven I. Simon Ph.D.

• Measuring and Improving Safety Culture. The ESH Handbook for the Public Sector

QUESTIONS?